Konoha Rhapsody
by shinigami-karin
Summary: The child needed a guardian, even though she didn't need the charge. To honor the memory of her late teacher, she took over the role to give Naruto a better life and a home. Even if the task may not be so easy.
1. Chapter 0

Just a short notice.

The first chapter of this story may seems familiar to some readers - it was taken over from a friend of mine, who because of personal reasons can no longer continue it. However, since it was her wish to see the story continued, I'm trying to do it. Please, be kind.

Disclaimer: I own nothing from Naruto verse.

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Prologue**

She really didn't want to do this.

Being a jounin teacher was fun and all, as she heard, but it wasn't her cup of tea.

No, Uzumaki Kushina definitely preferred to be send on a high-ranked missions and risk being hurt, dismembered, impaled, dead and even castrated (nothing is impossible to a willing mind, right?). Everything but babysitting three kids with different levels of intelgence, talent and skills. She had problems with taking care of herself sometimes, who in the right state of mind would think that she was able to take care of three young innocent souls?

For a quite long moment she had been thinking about dropping the three brats on her sunshine-blond boyfriend. He had already three of his own, so another three wouldn't hurt him, right? He was a prodigy after all, so he would handle them. But the Sandaime Hokage seemed to know her better than she thought since he had prohibited her to ditch the three young genins on anyone, especially not on Namikaze Minato (maybe because the blond would not be able to refuse any of her pleas). Even before she had said anything, dammit! That wasn't fair.

But still, she was there, standing in front of three young masochistic souls given into her own sadistic hands. What was she supposed to do? She had no idea how to start the first lesson.

Now, every other person in the world, after being assigned a new team of genins, would prepare something before-hand. But not Kushina. She preferred to go all night with her ladies friends and come back to home at dawn, go back to sleep and almost be late on the meeting if not for her boyfriend who would drag her hang over body on the training ground. But she wasn't late. She was just in time. She was just that awesome.

They were looking at her. For, like, five minutes now. And she was looking back at them. Also for five minutes now.

"So… yeah… I'm Uzumaki Kushina and I will be your jounin teacher starting now." She said, wondering if it wasn't too late to join ANBU forces. They were not being assigned any teams of children, right?

Don't blame her, the kids were scary in their own way.

"Let's start with introducing ourselves, 'ttebane!" she decided.

Knowing their names would be good. She still need to find the files given to her by the Hokage. They were in her apartment… somewhere.

"Akiyama Natsuki."

Looks like someone had a fetish on seasons. Kushina examined the girl with ginger hair and green eyes in front of her while the girl looked at her with interest. When she didn't see anything interesting in the young kunoichi, she moved her eyes onto a first boy.

"Yukimura Isamu."

Well, if the dark haired kid stand up to his name Kushina could see a great bond forming between them. And no, she wasn't playing favorites. But seeing the confidence in his brown eyes, the redhead decided that she may just found the star of the team.

"Yamauchi Saburo."

The boy with shy blue eyes looked at her for a short moment before averting his gaze. Kushina decided that they would first work on his self-esteem.

"Great. Now that we know each other…" more or less, she thought "… we can see what you can do, 'ttebane! Any questions?"

She looked again at the girl when she raised her hand.

"What does "'ttebane" means?"

* * *

After the first month of being a jounin teacher Kushina learned few things that would prove crucial in their future co-existence.

One was that she would never give anything sweet to Isamu.

She was distracted just for a moment by Mikoto, happy to see the woman first time in quite a long time. Now married, her friend didn't have that much free time to take part in the meetings.

And when she stopped gossiping about everything and nothing, she returned to the spot where she had left her minions.

Only to notice the nearly empty stand with sweets, over-energized Isamu with a craziness in his eyes while he was talking some nonsense to his two terrorized teammates.

The other thing was that her little team was definitely suicidal.

During the first training, Saburo had a little accident which included him stabbing himself. With his own kunai. Under her watch. The nurses glared at her for a long time.

The other day she encountered Isamu running for his life away from the few Inuzuka members after he shaved one of their dogs bald. And left his marked kunai behind.

Barely conscious Natsuki, after a very rough training, almost gost impaled by her fiancé Rasengan when she stumbled in his way. Only a hard yank on her braid, curtesy of Kakashi, saved her from a coffin. It was the last time the two teams were training on one ground.

And she knew they were sent on the Earth to make her life a hell.

They were on a very simple mission – it was a D-rank, helping in the hotel when most of the stuff was on holiday.

Nothing hard, really. In the end, half of the customer were covered in their food, curtesy of Isamu who wasn't able to hold straight the tray with food (as Kushina later found out, he was so jittery because of the itching powder that got on his clothes while in his bag), while Saburo coloured all the shits and covers pink, additionaly shrinking them, during the laundry. She also confiscated Natsuki's katana after the girl went full rage mode on some pervert. This one was justified, but somehow Hokage couldn't understand it after receving the bills for the destruction they caused.

She had to think about something to keep them out of trouble for the time being, until the anger of the Old Man went down a little bit.

"'Shina-sensei!" the voice of one of the three biggest problems in her life was heard and she turned around to face the kids. "When are we going on another mission?"

Think, Kushina, think…

"Sensei, are you ok?" Natsuki asked her suddenly, backing just a little with worried look. Seriously, the concentrated look on the face of her teacher with the addition of creepy smile was just… threatening.

Kushina was about to admit her defeat when in the corner of her eye she, caught a sight of Minato and his team. She smiled even wider in victory while Natsuki took one step back again. This time her teammates did the same, just in case.

"Well, we have a mission now, 'ttebane!" she announced loudly, catching the attention of few people around.

While Isamu looked at her eagerly, Saburo and Natsuki wandered what they had ever done to get a teacher like that. Because whatever Kushina had in her head was seriously going to have them killed. The gleam in her eyes told them so.

"W-What is this mission, sensei?" Saburo dared to asked and Kushina remembered that they were going to work on his self-esteem.

"See the white haired little guy over there with Minato?" she asked pointing her finger.

Of course they knew Minato, after all he was the one who had dragged back their sensei on the meetings when she was fed up with them. And sometimes took over the trainings, too.

"You mean Hatake Kakashi?" Isamu asked, putting his hands to his pockets and turning his head back to the redhead.

Kushina nodded her head, getting more and more pleased with herself.

"Your mission, my three little students, is to make him take off his mask, 'ttebane!" she announced.

"What for?"

Kushina blinked at Natsuki.

"What do you mean 'what for'?" she answered with a question.

"I mean, mission usually had some reasons why we are accomplishing them, right, Kushina-sensei? Either to receive a payment or just an experience." Natsuki blinked her eyes at her innocently, but the redhead could swear that she could see the evil glint somewhere in the back of the green pools. "What are we going to accomplish by making Hatake take his mask off?"

" _Getting off Hokage's way for some time is good enough reason!"_ She thought.

"It's a way for me to see how stealth, sneaky and intelligent are you, guys." She said aloud.

Kakashi could be a chibi in her opinion, but the kid was freaking prodigy after all and even she had to acknowledge his abilities. Her three little genins stood no chance against him.

Yeah, she was a terrible teacher.

"So, all we have to do is to make him take it off?" Saburo asked.

She nodded her head.

"That's all?" Isamu looked at her questioningly,

She nodded again.

"Is it really a mission?" Natsuki looked at her still suspicious.

She nodded again.

The three of them looked again in the direction of the white haired boy.

Kushina sighed with relief when they all nodded their heads. She had few weeks of quiet and peace. There was no way they would be able to do it. After all, she had been trying to take Kakashi's mask off for three years already and hadn't succeeded.

* * *

Kakashi suddenly felt a chill running down his neck and she knew that something bad was going to happen to him,

"Something wrong, Kakashi?" Minato asked, noticing suddenly alarmed look on the boy's face.

"No, sensei, everything is fine." He answered while looking around.

Nothing seemed out of place. More importantly, he hadn't noticed green spandex anywhere. But then his eyes caught the sight of red hair whose owner was suspiciously pointing her finger at him with three kids nodding their heads with different level of eagerness.

"Minato-sensei?"

"What is it, Kakashi?" the blond asked, furrowing his brows at the little boy. Something seemed really wrong with his student.

"I think Kushina-sensei is planning to kill me again." He answered not taking his eyes from the said kunoichi.

"Kakashi, Kushina had never tried to kill you." Minato answered calmly Well, maybe she almost choked the kid with his own mask while trying to take it off, but… well, he had no excuse for her.

But he turned his eyes in the direction of where Kakashi was looking and a small sweatdrop formed on his forehead. Kakashi was right, the look on her face was telling troubles. And he knew he was going to get catch in between. Especially when her three students were staring at Kakashi with some strange calculating look.

"What were you saying, sensei?" Kakashi with raised brow.

* * *

Kakashi's life had turned into a pit of mental tortures. His next week looked as follows:

 _ **Day #1**_

Of course Kakashi knew that someone was following him just an hour after Kushina-sensei and her team disappeared from his sight.

The three morons didn't even try to hide their chakra signatures.

Well, at first he had no idea who was following him, but a window was a great shinobi tool too.

So when the back haired guy tried to jump on him from behind and made an attempt to grab his face, he simply shoved the idiot to the ground and left him to be picked up by the rest of the trio.

 _ **Day #2**_

Kakashi felt his eyebrow ticking nervously when he passed a 'newly opened' stand offering different styles of face mask.

It goes without saying that the three of Kushina's idiots could go better with simple henge that some crazy attires, most probably provided to them by the redhead herself.

 _ **Day #3**_

He knew even before he had entered his apartment that the idiots were already there.

So he was not even surprised by the three plants standing in his living room, one with foot sticking out from the pot and the other with blue eyes blinking shyly on him from a leaf.

Well, at least they used henge this time.

And Kakashi was reminded why he preferred plants from people when he was throwing the trio out of his apartment: they were silent.

 _ **Day #4**_

Kakashi was thinking about seriously killing them when he came back from a mission and heard some strange noises coming from his closet. He made his way there, but was stopped by the slight chakra change of one of them.

"Isamu, did you just touch my butt?"

There was a moment of silence followed by nervous laugh.

"W-Wait, Natsu-san, I'm here t-too!"

He left his apartment, deciding that at least two of them were getting their punishment.

 _ **Day #5 and #6**_

He thought that after he had put a better barrier around his bathroom after Gai invited himself there, no one would be able to enter there.

But he was wrong.

He had two uninvited guests two days straight.

 _ **Day #7**_

Kakashi knew that he was going to have free day when he overheard their conversation.

"No."

"But Natsu, we had already done it!"

"So?"

"Now is your turn."

"I'm not going to sneak into his bathtub, Isamu, forget it."

"Why not?"

"Maybe because I'm a girl, idiot?"

"Exactly! There is a chance that he won't throw you out!"

Kakashi gracefully stepped out of the way when a lifeless body flew by him.

 _ **Day #8**_

Kakashi had never felt so mentally scarred for life.

Because being pushed by the cross-dressed student of your sensei's girlfriends, a boy around his age in definitely not fitting red dress and heels and make-up, who was trying to pull down your mask to kiss you while acting as some drama queen was an event that would imprint in his memory forever.

It was his breaking point. He needed to know why they were pushing his limits and making idiots out of themselves.

* * *

Natsu wasn't really that surprised when he showed himself in her parent's apartment, angry mark on his head. He dragged her out of her apartment by her collar, excusing her mother who looked just slightly amused by the situation and completely trying to ignore the black cat who was doing everything to trip him.

She was smart enough to not fight back.

"If I say it was for greater good will it help me?" she asked and he glared at her.

In her books this excuse worked wonders usually.

"Ok, I get it." She added when he didn't answer. "But you can let me go, I promise I won't run."

"You think you would have a chance to run?" he asked coldly but let go of her collar nevertheless.

"Probably not."

"Surely not." He corrected her and looked at her with crossed arms. "Now talk."

* * *

When for the first time in months when Minato had the three of them under his care it was Kakashi who was late, not Obito, he became quite worried.

And when Kushina suddenly appeared sheepish on the training ground with two of her students, one looking uneasy and the other ready to drop dead at any moment, he became _very_ worried.

"What happened?" he asked while Rin looked over the sickly looking boy.

"You see… I can't find Natsu anywhere and she had been last seen by her mother with Kakashi who literally dragged her out of her apartment, 'ttebane." She explained, and Minato noticed with a little surprised a worry in her eyes.

He furrowed his brow. It was definitely out of character for Kakashi to do something like that… unless he was pushed to his limits.

"Kushina…" he moaned. "What did you do?"

"Why are you assuming that I have done anything, 'ttebane?!" she shouted at him offended.

Five pointed looks caused her to calm down.

Taking a deep breath she told him about her team's 'mission'.

"… you are sadistic." Minato commented, slapping his forehead.

"Kushina- sensei, that's awesome! Why didn't you tell me, I would help!" Obito shouted, looking at the redhead with stars in his eyes.

Everything that pissed Kakashi off was like an aphrodisiac to him.

"No, you wouldn't. That's mean, Obito!" Rin lectured him, putting her hands on her hips.

"Ok, now we need to find Kakashi and Natsu."

They didn't have a chance.

"I'm here."

Kushina turned so quickly, that something snapped in her neck.

"Are you okay?! He didn't hurt you, did he, 'ttebane?!" she started to look her over, ignoring the scared look on her female student's face on her actions and glaring at the white haired boy who entered after her.

"Y-yeah, I'm f-fine, sensei." She answered and backed a little. "Anyway, I completed your mission." She added, handing over the dark mask in her hand to the older female.

There was a long silence in the room. They all looked first at Kakashi who nodded his head with another mask on already.

"How?!"

"Wait, have you seen his face?!"

"N-Natsu-san, I thought he was going to kill you! What d-did he do to you?!"

"What the hell were you thinking, 'ttebane?!"

Natsuki blinked, just slightly terrified by Kushina's, Obito's, Saburo's and Isamu's faces shouting questions at her.

She smiled however, raising her finger.

"It's…"

They went quiet and waited.

"… a secret."

Minato only smiled at the look on his girlfriend's face.

"Oi… just what kind of monster do you think I am?" Kakashi asked with ticking eyebrow.

Now he needed to stop his student from having revenge.

* * *

Two silhouettes were visible standing in front of the memorial stones in the dark night, tracing with their eyes names of their once important people. No words were exchanged, they just shared the moment of grieve in the silence that the darkness offered.

 _Uzumaki Kushina_

 _Namikaze Minato_

 _Uchiha Obito_

 _Nohara Rin_

 _Yukimura Isamu_


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

A small, blond child was running through the almost empty streets of the village, trying to ignore the tears that were running down his face. His arms were shaking and his breath was becoming shallow, however he didn't stop.

He didn't do anything so why they were trying to do bad things to him? They always did, as long as his short memory would reach there weren't many people who would offer him some nice words.

Today he sneeked out of the orphanage because it was warm and nice outside, even if it was dark already. He didn't like sitting in the small, stuffed and stingy room all day as he was told to. He could hear the voices and laughs of other children outside and he wanted to join them. But every time he could exit the room the children avoided him, just like they were told to do whenever he was close.

The panic gripped his throat when he heard the shouting of the villagers coming closer and closer. They were a lot larger than him, he wouldn't get away from them.

But he didn't want them to catch him! He tried to run faster, ignoring the pain he had started to feel in his lungs. The tears in his eyes were obscuring his vision and he tried to wipe them away with his sleeve while still running, what was quite a task.

But they were still flowing and he couldn't see.

And then he collided with something hard and fell on the ground, grimacing slightly at the pain in his butt at the contact with the hard stone. Hearing the shouting from behind him coming closer and closer he lost his will to run. They would catch him anyway. Trying to protect himself from the blows that would land on him soon enough, he curled into the ball hugging his knees to his chest and closing his eyes, not even trying to stop his sobs any longer.

"Are you all right?" he heard the rustling of clothes when the person that he had bumped into lowered itself to check on him. There was a gasp. "You are..."

He screamed in terror when he felt someone touching his arm that was hugging his head closer to his knees. The touching stopped quickly but the person didn't move away from him.

"Calm down. I won't hurt you, don't be afraid." The voice spoke again calmly and gently. To his surprise the harm didn't come.

But he didn't have time to think about it since the villagers had catch up with him.

"Oi, there he is!"

"We got the demon kid!"

"Let's have some fun!"

"He didn't learn last time!"

The kid closed his eyes curling into himself more while awaiting the pain that was going to come. Maybe they would get bored soon and leave him alone without doing too much damage? He hoped so. But in the same time he knew that it would be just wishing on his side.

"Oi lady, come, join the fun."

"I will pass, thank you."

Naruto cracked one of his eyes open and looked up a little. All he could see was a jounin jacket. He closed his eyes again when he heard one of the villagers coming even closer from behind him.

The jounin on whose leg the child had bumped straightened and looked on the drunk men in front of her with calculating look. It was clearly visible that they were barely standing on their feet thanks to the consumed alcohol. There is avery high possibility that they would have hard time remembering the events in the morning.

"Why? It's always a lot of…" before the man could finish the sentence, he was met with the punch on his face.

"What the hell?!"

"Who the fuck are you?!"

The jounin the villagers encountered looked at them with titled head before answering with a smile.

"It's a secret."

After few moments they were passed out on the ground.

She looked down on the blond child quivering on the ground before bending down again to his level.

She was never good with kids.

"Oi, you are Naruto, right?" she asked and grimaced when the boy winced and moved away a little.

"I'm Natsuki, but you can call me Natsu." She continued, hoping that the kid would calm enough to let her take him home. She couldn't just leave him there, in the middle of the road. "What are you doing out here alone?"

Aside from being chased by drunk men.

She was met with silence again.

"I'm not going to hurt you, you know?" she asked rhetorically before starting to look for something in her pocket. "Look, I will give you a candy, you like sweets? I love them and it's my last one, so you better enjoy it or I won't give you any candies ever again, deal?" she asked finally finding a treat in her pocket and handing it to him, ignoring the babbling that she was spurting.

One blue eye looked at her suspiciously.

"You don't want it?" she asked, sitting in front of him on the ground. "Then I'm going to eat it. Too bad for you, it's really good." She was silent for a moment. "So maybe you will change your mind?"

There was a silence for around two more minutes before a hesitant hand stretched out to take the offered candy. Naruto snatched it from her hand quickly pulling it back to himself and taking off the wrap. He was watching her all the time with the corner of his eyes, definitely not trusting her. It was new to him, to have a stranger being nice to him. Well, they sometimes were nice, but it was quickly over when they recognized the markings on his cheeks. But the lady knew his name and was still nice. That was something knew and he didn't know what to think about it. But his worries died slowly in accordance to the sweetness filling his mouth.

On her part Natsu was watching the kid with interest. He was looking almost exactly like Minato-sensei, but she still could see the resemblance in his face to Kushina-sensei. He had to be a great kid, no matter whose character he got in his genes. That's why it was even more painful to see him so scared, so terrified. He looked like a little animal bitten up and ditched far away from home. She could see few bruises on his thin arms. The guilt hit her when she thought about the three, almost four, years the boy had to live with the hate and anger directed at him, not knowing what he had done. And why no one took proper care of him.

Deep in her heart she knew that there was nothing she could to explain herself. Sure, no one expect the fourteen year old chunnin to take care of a child. She was so preoccupied with the grief, the jounin promotion, missions and rebuilding the village that she didn't check even once on the boy. She knew that he was in the orphanage, but she was sure that someone was watching him more closely that to allow him roam the street in the night.

"Do you like the candy, Naruto?" she asked, watching as the kid's face brightened a little while he was sucking the candy.

"Yeah, it's great, 'ttebayo!" he exclaimed suddenly with big smile on his face.

Natsu looked at him for a moment with widened eyes after hearing the catchphrase that brought back the image of the woman with red hair. After a moment, she laughed quietly.

Naruto was startled by the sudden sound.

"W-What's wrong, 'ttebayo?" he asked fearfully but Natsu only shook her head.

"Nothing, Naruto, really nothing." She said and straightened. "So, what are you doing here all alone?" she asked, hoping that the boy wouldn't lock himself again.

Still. He was too trusting if a piece of candy was enough. However, he was just a kid.

"I didn't do anything, 'ttebayo!" he shouted suddenly and took a step back. Natsu jumped, startled with his reaction.

"Woah, I know, Naruto, I know. I just asked why you are alone outside at night."

The boy looked at the side, slightly ashamed by his exclamation.

"I wanted to walk." He answered.

"Why didn't you go during a day?" Natsu asked, furrowing her brows.

Most kids didn't like going outside at night, or at least the kids she knew.

Naruto mumbled something under his breath.

"Pardon?"

"I said that they didn't allow me to go out." He said a little louder.

Seeing his crestfallen expression and sad blue eyes, Natsuki couldn't stop herself.

* * *

When Kakashi was suddenly summoned to the Hokage's Office the next morning, he had no idea what could had happened. Especially when he was said to arrive as a jounin, not an ANBU captain.

He had been there just few hours before, giving report from his last mission.

"Hokage-sama." He greeted the older man sitting behind the desk. "Is there any problem?"

"Kakashi." The Hokage nodded his head at the jounin who entered his office. "You are, I assume, well informed about the case of Uzumaki Naruto?"

The white haired man nodded his head. He may not visit the child of his late sensei, but that didn't mean that he hadn't got interested in what was going on with the kid. According to the news in his acts, Naruto was stationed in the orphanage, being returned by one of his many adopted families (for misbehaving if Kakashi remembered correctly). How much truth was there, he didn't know, but suspected that it wasn't the real reason. Between being an ANBU captain and individual missions, he was rarely in Konoha for long enough to actually go and check on the well-being of Naruto.

"The matron of the orphanage reported his missing today." The Hokage continued, watching the white haired jounin over his pipe. "According to the witnesses he was seen alone in the night, running away from drunken villagers. However, that was last he was seen."

"And the witnesses didn't think of trying to help him, I presume?" Kakashi asked with sarcasm clearly heard in his voice.

"They were civilians." Hokage answered, the displease clearly heard in his voice.

"And what about the drunks?"

He hoped that they hadn't succeeded in catching the kid. If they did, he would now be up to search for the little body instead of the little boy.

"The ANBU patrol found them in the early morning passed out on the street. Judging by their looks and bruises, they were in a fight with someone. They are yet to wake up and sober enough to answer our questions." The older man took out the pipe from his mouth and started turning it in his hand. "I don't need to point out that finding Naruto alive is significant. The fact that we don't have a Nine-Tail Fox rampaging around the village gives me the hope that nothing bad happened to the boy."

That was a fact that many people, mostly civilians, didn't acknowledge. The seal on his stomach, no matter how complicated and precisely applied, worked only when they boy was alive. Not once in their blind hate against the boy they had hurt him, not aware that they could bring the doom on their village by themselves.

Kakashi unconsciously looked through the window as if to make sure that there really wasn't a giant demon making havoc around the village.

There wasn't.

"What about the ANBU that was assigned to watch the boy?"

Sarutobi's lips formed a thin line and he put a pipe again between his lips.

"He is questioned now."

The further talk was interrupted by a sudden knock on the door of the Hokage's office.

"Enter."

"Hokage-sama, the drunks has awaken and given their statements." Said the chunnin that entered the office with a respectful bow in Kakashi's direction.

"Report." The older man ordered shortly.

"During their chase they encountered a kunoichi. They don't remember much of what happened before she knocked them out. She didn't gave her name telling that it was a secret, from what they say."

Kakashi raised his brow when something in his memory stirred from the times long forgotten.

"Hokage-sama, I think I know where Naruto may be." He said suddenly.

* * *

When Natsu woke up that morning, she was for a moment confused when she felt something warm at her side. At the beginning she was thinking that a stray cat she was taking care from time to time broke to her apartment again, but two things changed her mind:

The cat was not that big and the cat couldn't mumble in its sleep.

One look at the occupant in her bed reminded her of the fact that she had, on a total whim, decided to kidnap the son of her late sensei for a little interrogation. And when she had heard about the way he was treated in the orphanage and in the families he was put into she just couldn't let him go back there. At least for one night he could get a decent sleep in normal bed without worry that someone may hurt him in his sleep.

Remembering that she had an appointment with a Hokage today to report on her last mission, she slowly stood up from the bed trying not to wake the sleeping kid. She didn't need to worry about it, as it seemed, since the blonde only mumbled something again and turned around, bringing the covers closer to himself. She tiptoed to her kitchen to get something to drink.

"Where is Naruto Uzumaki?"

As soon as the voice reached her ears, she instinctively reached for her kunai, only to realize that she was still in her pyjama.

"Relax, Akiyama, I'm not going to attack you. Yet."

Natsu concentrated on the new addition in her kitchen. White hair, mask on the face, standard ANBU uniform.

"Hatake? What are you doing here?" she asked, not relaxing just yet.

She doubted that Kakashi Hatake appeared in her apartment after almost four years of not seeing each other with just a friendly visit.

"The Hokage got concerned about the sudden disappearance of one Naruto Uzumaki. The statement of the witnesses led us to you." He answered, not moving an inch from his spot on her windowsill. "And considering the chakra signature in the other room, we weren't mistaken."

She considered playing dumb for a moment, but quickly get rid off the idea. He was a genius and prodigy, as well as the ANBU captain, she knew perfectly well that she stood no chance against him, esspeicaly without her katana.

"He is sleeping right now. Please, don't wake him." She answered, moving to her kettle to prepare her morning tea.

One eye followed her movements.

"Is there any reason you decided to kidnap him?" Kakashi asked.

"I didn't kidnap him, per say. I just… decided to keep him away from his designated place of staying for the time being. And he wasn't protesting, so it was willing, therefore the kidnapping option is rulled out." She stated, however upon seeing an un-amused raised eyebrow, she flattered. "I just wanted to give him a night of proper sleep before leading him back to the orphanage."

And have a chat with the matron, but she kept that for herself.

"Haven't you considered that someone may inform the officials about his disappearing?"

She was surprised that there was someone who cared enough for that.

"He was out alone during the night, fully facing the attack of drunkards without any protection." She deadpanned. "I didn't know someone even watched over the kid to notice his missing."

Probably they wouldn't have, but the Hokage was appointed to visit the child next day, Kakashi wandered to himself.

"The matron of the orphanaged informed Hokage early in the morning about Naruto absence." He informed her, watching as Natsu took a place by the table with a tea in her hand. "He was pretty close to sent the ANBU teams out on full area search. You would have been in a much worse situation if they had found Naruto here."

"I know that."

"Than why?"

"Because I talked to him. I asked about his life, about his care providers, about the attackers." She said, taking a sip of her tea. "For him, it's a daily routine. Tell me, what four year old condsider physical and psychical abuse as a normal reality? It shouldn't be like this. That's not what Kushina-sensei and Minato-sensei would have want for their only child. Did you ever checked the conditions he was in?" upon receiving no answer, she continued. "He was locked in a cupboard under the stairs, his mattress stack between the broom and stack of papers. He got food once a day, if they didn't forget about him. No one ever hugged him. No one ever got interested in his feelings. Do you know when matron interfered to stop the villagers? When they got the idea of raping him."

Kakashi almost choked on his own saliva.

"What did you say?"

Natsu nodded her head before noticing blond spikes sticking from behind the doorframe to her room. The kid sucked at eavesdropping. Seemingly he was lured out from the bed by the voices. She signalled Kakashi to not start the subject.

"You have to report to the Hokage as soon as possible. Take the kid with you." He only said before disappearing.

"Naruto, you can come out." She said, thinking deeply.

Her eyes turned on the kid when he exited with a sheepish grin on his face, rubbing the back of his neck. He reminded her of her sensei at the moment, minus the hair and eyes.

"Nee-chan, are you in trouble?" he asked, looking at her fearfully.

She smiled at him before standing up. She moved to her room, ruffling his head on the way, ignoring the indignant "oi!".

"Nah, we just have to meet the Hokage." She answered, knowing very well that she would be chewed on.

* * *

Sandaime Hokage looked at the young woman in front of him with a calculative look on his face, at the same time trying to suppress the smile on the sight of the little blond head that was picking from behind her leg and blue eyes that were glaring at the man. It looked like the child was well aware of the fact, that the woman was in trouble and didn't like the berating that Natsu had received just few minutes ago. Usually Naruto was very happy to see him.

"Now, about your punishment…" he started however the movement stopped him.

Naruto jumped from behind the leg he was using as a shield. Natsu did try to stop him by making a move to grab him around the waist, but the kid was so freaking wiggling that he slipped from her hold.

"You can't punish nee-chan, Old Man!" he shouted when he took his position on the Hokage's desk with his finger pointed accusingly at the man. "She had done nothing wrong, 'ttebayo!"

Hokage raised his eyebrow at the boy while Natsu facepalmed herself. It shouldn't be so surprising, after all Naruto was Kushina's son. It was to be expected that he would be as idiotic as she was at times.

"I can't? So what should I do, Naruto?" the older man asked, puffing the smoke out of his pipe.

"I-I… don't know, 'ttebayo! But not punishment." The boy stated. "She was the first person nice to me, Old Man! And she even gave me ramen before we went to sleep! It was delicious!"

Sarutobi was quite sure that ramen for dinner was not a good food for a kid, but he wouldn't be surprised if it was one of the most proper dinners the kid got in his life. He actually felt quite guilty for not intervening more into the child's life in the orphanage and foster families. Maybe he was really getting too old for the job. After all, there was a reason why he retired and gave his office to Minato few years ago.

The Sandaime Hokage turned his eyes for a moment when he heard the jounin mumble something alike "That's the only thing I had edible". He looked back to the blond kid who was still standing on his desk, completely ignoring the fact that he was dirtying the letter from the Feudal Lord (not that Sarutobi wanted to read it anyway, it was usually just some rubbish that he politely but respectfully completely ignored).

And that was when somehow genius idea entered his old mind. Maybe he was going senile, but it might work. In some way.

* * *

Natsu walked behind the blond who skipping happily through the streets of Konoha, humming something to himself. Apparently, the idea of the possibility of leaving the orphanage to live with someone who didn't treat him like a monster was amazing ans was making him overjoyed.

What couldn't be said about the girl walking behind him with thoughtful expression on her face.

Not that he didn't want to help the child of her late sensei. After seeing what they had been going through in his life, she knew that she wouldn't leave the matter alone. But she had been planning on doing so more from the shadows. But when the Hokage presented his proposal to her and the blue eyes looked at her so hopefully with a hint of silent begging, she couldn't say "no". It would be too cruel for the boy. And she didn't want to even think about making Kushina-sensei disappointed.

The redhead woman had been somehow cruel and ignorant at times, but she still was someone who Natsu turned to in the moment of need. Not ignoring the fact that the woman changed completely when she had found out that she was bearing a child. Natsu smiled for a moment remembering when the change in her teacher had scared her.

 _She just came back from a few months long journey with her brother who had been hell bent on training her in their family jutsu. She was still somehow surprised and proud with herself that she had managed to survive the crazy ideas of her brother when it concerned his methods of training. Because throwing everything he was able to gain at her in the middle of the night was a sign that he was going crazy. Not to mention that he was a jounin while she was just a chunnin._

 _But that explained the number of bandages loosely wrapped around her body. The sadist didn't want to help her with them and she was not a specialist when it came to that._

 _"Natsu? What happened to you, 'ttebane?!" hearing the well-known voice behind her, she turned around to meet her sensei, who was standing next to the Ichiraku ramen stand._

 _And her eyes almost bulged from her eyeballs when they landed on the stomach of her teacher._

 _"Shina-sensei, I think you should go on a diet." She said the first thing that came into her mind._

 _She heard a quiet snort coming from the stand and she recognized it as the Fourth Hokage. Out of habit she raised her hand to hide from the blow from the angry redhead, but it never came._

 _She blinked when the warm hands started to examine the bandages on her hands._

 _"I don't believe you still haven't learned how to bandage yourself, Natsu! I have shown it to you lots of times, 'ttebane!" Kushina stated and guided her inside the stand._

 _"Actually no, you didn't. You just sent us every time to hospital. Hi, Minato-sensei." The girl said, taking a place on the free seat._

 _"I did not, 'ttebane!" there was a moment of silence. "Ok, maybe I did."_

 _"How was your training, Natsu-san?" Minato asked, turning to the girl._

 _"To the rest of my life I'm going to think that it was an attempt to kill me." She answered, giving her order to Ichiraku._

 _"It couldn't be that bad." He started, however the look on her bandages said him that he wrong._

 _When Kushina started unwrapping her bandages to fix them, Natsu looked considerably worried._

 _"Shina-sensei?" she asked and when the woman hummed in answer she continued. "Are you sure you won't kill me accidently with the bandages?"_

 _The whack she received reminded her why she should keep her tongue at bay when near Kushina. Especially the pregnant one._

She smiled to herself remembering some of the antics of the pregnant woman. Her smile slowly fated however when a wave of melancholy hit her. She missed them all, her sensei and Isamu.

"Nee-chan?" the worried voice interrupted her thoughts and she looked up on the small boy who had stopped his happy march and was now looking at her. "Why are you sad?"

Natsu looked into his worried eyes before smiling a little and ruffling his hair.

"'m fine, Naruto, just thinking about something." she answered and on a whim she grabbed the boy under his arms and lifted him, settling him on her hip. He was so small, maybe even too small for his age. She wasn't sure, she knew practically nothing about kids. "What would you say about getting some ramen before going to the orphanage to take you things?" she asked and almost went deaf because of the volume of the happiness emitting from Naruto.

* * *

There was a heavy silence in the Hokage's Office.

"Are you sure about it, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked, a doubt heard in his voice.

"I am not, however it is the only pan I could think of when I considered the future of Naruto." the older man answered. "I also want you to keep you eye on both of them."

"Is it a mission?"

"Yes."

With a nod, Kakashi was gone.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 3: Chapter 2**

* * *

Natsuki exited the orphanage with an adoption papers in her hand, which made her an official guardian of one and only Naruto Uzumaki until he reached the adulthood. She still couldn't quite comprehend the idea of being a single, substitute parent. She was sure that everything went on so smoothly, simply because of the interference of the Hokage. If not for that, she would go through a lot of official procedure, one of them was the explanation who would take care of child in her absence.

Even though most of the civilians would consider her almost a kid herself, hitting the age of eighteen just a few months ago, she knew that it was different when one was ninja – they were considered adults pretty much the moment they made it out of the academy. There was no sense in pretending they were still children while sending them on the missions that include killing, torturing and enduring the immense psychological and physical pain that often assisted the battlefield. Even if they were still physically kids, their mental age spiked terribly fast, especially after the infamous first kill. No one was really the same after that. They lived in the war times, in many cases the very first mission outside the borders of the village ended with the killing.

Natsu sighed, shaking her head from the thoughts, and looked down on the boy, who was sticking very closely to her leg, one hand holding the material of her trousers, while the other was being sucked on pretty intensly. It seems that all the bravado he had been showing previously decreased with the increase of the people outside. She could sense that he was anxious and terrified of the amount of people around him, what didn't really surprised her that much. They were out in almost the most busy hour of Konoha, when everyone were either grabbing something to eat during a lunch break or simply taking a walk around.

She noticed a few women smiling at the sight of the boy at first, however as soon as their eyes fell down on the markings on his cheeks, the smiles turned into frowns and then disgust.

Didn't the Fourth's wish was to consider Naruto a hero?

She hide the papers in her pocket and picked the boy up, blocking the boy's view away from the hateful eyes. He squealed surprised.

"So, what do you want to do today to celebrate, huh?" she asked, smiling widely while trying to ignore the fact that he just wiped all the saliva from his thumb in her shirt.

"Celebrate?" Naruto repeated after her, blinking owlishly.

"Yep, we are going to celebrate. Starting today, you are staying with me. Permanently." She explained.

"I really don't need to go back there?" he asked, hope shining in his bright blue eyes, so innocent.

"No, never."

Seeing the wide smile blooming again on the face of the boy, she was half preparing herself to block her hearing, however, the happy screaming never erupted from him. Instead, two small arms encircled her neck and hold tied, while wet face hid itself in her neck, blond spikes tickling her skin.

She continued walking, rubbing small circles on the boys back. She let him cry, promising to herself that she would never let anything hurt him again.

It shouldn't surprise her that they ended at Ichiraku's as the way of celebrating. Because, seriously, she knew the answer the moment she asked where Naruto wanted to eat. She needed to vary the boy's food, he couldn't survive only on the ramen all the time.

And she needed to inform her parents about the new development in her life. Both of her parents were retired now, living quite calm life in their house near the outskirts of Konoha. They had been ones of the few lucky families during the attack of the Kyuubi – they didn't lost anyone. Outside of few wounds and broken bones, they made it out pretty unscathed. Miracle it itself, for what she was very grateful.

"We are going to buy you some more clothes, Naruto." She decided, stirring her ramen instead of eating it. "And any other stuff necessary. You don't really have that much to go with."

She glanced at the bag standing by her stool. The matron practically threw it at her after everything was done. It had been packed previously, thankfully. Natsu hadn't been sure how long she could stay in one place with that woman without killing anyone. Her remarks, superior behavior and the disgust she had looked on Naruto with made Natsu's blood boil hot

"Shopping?" Naruto looked at her with his face full of ramen. He quickly swallowed it. "But is it safe?"

She blinked at him owlishly for a moment, trying to understand what may be dangerous in the shopping procedure, before realizing who she was talking to.

"You don't need to worry about anything while you are with me." She said. "Everything will go just fine."

There was a moment of silence between the two, both of them taking care of their food. Natsu tried to evaluate the state of her financial account, deciding that she was able to provide the kid with few clothes and standard stuff. She saved a little bit of money from her last few missions, so she wasn't in any form of financial difficulty.

"Nee-chan…" Naruto started hesitantly, before stopping.

Natsu looked at him from the corner of her eyes.

"What is it?"

"Why are you so nice to me?" he asked, avoiding her look, his eyes concentrated on the ramen in front of him.

She sat there quietly for a moment. No four year old should be so confused by an act of kindness.

"Because you deserve that, Naruto. You are an amazing boy that one day will become an amazing man." She answered, knowing perfectly well that with the genes in his blood, there was no other possibility. "You deserve a happy childhood, and that's the most important aspect for now. Don't think about the orphanage or the people there. None of them will be able to get you now. We are going to work on that together, y'know? You will need to help me with some things from now on."

He looked at her before a big smile appeared on his face.

"You know that, ttebayo! I will be the best brother you will ever have!" he exclaimed, before happily returning to his bowl.

She laughed. The kid was bouncing back to his happy self quicker than she could blink.

"So, we need to establish few things at the very beginning." She continued, earning back the attention of the blond boy.

"Like what, nee-chan?" he was becoming a little bit suspicious.

"What is you favorite color?"

He blinked for a moment, wandering about that.

"Orange!"

Of course the kid could pick a color as bright as his personality. Natsu's ninja nature kicked in – she decided that once the kid was enrolled into the Academy, and she was sure he would be, she was going to do everything in her power to tone down his attire.

"Ok, fine. What do you like to do?" she continued her questioning.

"Eat ramen at Ichiraku!" he exclaimed without a moment of hesitation.

Natsu sighed, ignoring the laugh that escaped the stand owner. What was she expecting?

"Ok, let's go with that. Now, few rules." Naruto straightened his back, looking at her. "You have to be back home before dark whenever you are outside. Bath every night and bed after nine. Wash your hands before every meal. And you are going to eat vegetables." She rose her finger up when Naruto's face blanched. "All of them."

Natsu watched with amusement as Naruto fought with himself between loudly protesting the last of the rules and accepting it. In the end he sighed dramatically and slumped against the counter. Not for long, however, because Teuchi put a brand new, full ramen bowl in front of him.

"As a good luck charm." He explained to Natsu with a small smile on his face.

She was sure that it was because of Naruto's comment about his hobby.

"Yo."

Natsu choked on her own ramen when there was a sudden presence behind her and a new voice rang in the air. Naruto shrank into the stool he was sitting on. She felt a vein popping when there was a dramatic pat on her back.

"Don't choke now, you barely started your role as a parent." Kakashi said to her, taking a place next to her. "It would a shame if it stopped rapidly now."

She collected herself and turned to the silver-haired jounin, noticing the lack of ANBU gear he was usually wearing on the streets, but ignoring it at the same time. His taste in attire was not important now.

"Is there any reason why you are here, Hatake?" she asked

"A friendly visit." He answered, eye-smiling at her. He turned his attention to the boy picking curiously from behind Natsu's back. "Hi Naruto, my name is Hatake Kakashi. I'm the substitute of your substitute guardian."

It took Natsu a moment to comprehend what he was saying before she shoot up from her stool and, grabbing Kakashi by his collar, dragged him out of the hearing range of Naruto.

"Can you repeat, please?" she said, her arms crossed in front of her.

Kakashi watched her with raised eyebrow, amusement slightly visible in his dark orbs.

"I'm the substitute of the substitute guardian of Naruto Uzumaki." he repeated slowly, as if talking to exceptionally slow five years old.

"And what the hell does it even mean?" she was close to snapping.

"Language. You have a kid now under your care."

There was a longer silence while both of the watched each other. Natsu could feel another vain popping out on her forehead. Finally, Kakashi gave up and sighed before answering.

"You are perfectly aware that in order to take the guardianship over a child you need both man and woman name in the form when you are an active shinobi, unless you are a family or the deceased parents left the testimony. Something along the lines of providing a child with another guardian in case something happens with the first one during a mission." he explained. "The Hokage decided that the safest and the least problematic way to do so is for me to take the form. Also, Hatake name in the child's paper may also serve as an additional protection."

Natsu for a moment was about to comment about his self-esteem, however had to agree with the logic behind it. The guardians names will be visible in Academy and any official department. Kakashi was a legend of himself by now, considering his strength and abilities. It may come useful in stopping any abuse and improper behavior from the teachers or officials in the future.

"And you are fine with that?" she asked instead, raising her eyebrow.

"He is also Minato-sensei's kid." the answer itself spoke volumes.

Natsu knew perfectly well about the bond between the young Kakashi and the Fourth. It went beyond the teacher-student relation, Minato was more like older brother and guardian to him, especially after the suicide of his father. She could see the guilt shining in his eyes when he answered her, she could see the same look in her own reflection when thinking about Naruto and his past.

"On the other hand, wasn't you suspicious when the adoption procedure went so smoothly?" he asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"I was, but decided that Hokage interfered in order to take Naruto away from that place." she answered simply.

Kakashi hummed, but didn't add anything about the matter.

"How is it going to look?" Natsu asked suddenly, her posture speaking volumes. She was on defense now.

"Care to explain?" he propped.

"Are you going to be active in Naruto's life? Do you want to visit him, take him to your place from time to time or whatever?" suddenly, she felt embarrassment about the subject.

"The plan for now is that you are his primary guardian. If any help will be needed, I will provide it to you if possible." at least, that was the plan he agreed on with the Hokage.

That was also his mission, after all.

Natsu felt a relief washing through her body. For a moment, she was afraid that she would need to discuss every decision with Kakashi, what would turn quite problematic in a long way. It was good to know that would have someone to help and support, but on the other hand Kakashi was practically stranger to her now. They had not been friends in the past, the only thing connecting them was the marriage of their teachers. They had met a few times, ate few meals together with the two adults, however that was it.

Was he angry that the Hokage didn't inform her about that? Of course she was, however she could a logic on a plan as a whole. She knew that Kakashi was a bery busy mean, so he wouldn't be able to impose much of them.

"That's good to know." she commented only.

"Great. Now that all is established..."

He acted on instinct. Upon feeling a familiar chakra rapidly closing up on him, he grabbed Natsuki and pushed her in front of him a second before green could envelope him.

He was saved.

"My eternal rival! It has been so long since I saw you! Have you shrank...?"

Kakashi almost face palmed himself, sighing tiredly. Of course Gai would show up. He had been in Konoha for a week now and the Green Beast hadn't shown up until now.

"Hi Gai. I think you are suffocating Akiyama." he stated loudly, hands in pockets and enjoying the few.

Natsu had no chance to free herself from the bone-crushing hug Gai had on her. She barely reached to his chin and was frozen in the shock.

"Nee-chan!" in addition to everything, Naruto decided to pick out from the ramen stand to check what the noise was about. "Let go of her, you damn Kappa monster!"

Kakashi felt amused for a moment, wandering for a moment where the Kappa name could come from, deciding that the green suit Gai was sporting was at fault. He felt even more amused when Naruto aimed less than impressive kick to the orange warmers on the jounin's legs, what in turn pulled Natsu out from her stupor.

"Gai-san, please let me go!" she was able to say, trashing in his grip.

"Natsuki-san, please forgive me my behavior! I will run five hundreds laps to amend my sin!" Gai exclaimed, finally letting his arms fall only to raise them up a moment later in the declaration.

"No, you don't have to..."

"And Kakashi, my rival, that was so un-youthful of you to hide behind a fair maiden from my sneak attack! You should run with me!"

"I could feel your signature when you were on the other side of the street."

"And you, youthful seed of Konoha!" Gai ignored Kakashi's comment, turning to Naruto who backed few steps just in case, bumping into Natsu's knees. "it was the most honorable and youthful behavior I have seen! Standing to protect your big sister when my rival's morals failed him! Very impressive indeed!"

"...Seed?"

"Gai, is there anything you need from me?" Kakashi decided to interrupt Gai before he could continue.

"I wanted to compete with you, however now I have laps to run to make Natsuki-san forgive my un-youthful behavior! Do you want to join me?!"

"...Maybe later."

"Yosh! I will seek you later to report my amendment!" and with that, he was gone, leaving a dust of smoke behind him.

There was a long silence after that.

"Was that a threat?" Natsu asked, watching the cloud of dust visible in the distance.

"Ignore him." Kakashi answered, rubbing his forehead.

"Nee-chan?" Natsu looked down ad the blond tugging at her pants. "What does youhful mean?"

"Youthful, Naruto. And you are too young for that." she answered, deciding to keep Gai and his youthfulness away from Naruto until he is at least eighteen.

"But why? I want to know!" he protested, still keeping a grip on her leg.

"But I don't want you to know." She mumbled under her breath, tossing her hair around.

He pouted at her, but she only smiled in return.

"Go grab your things, kid, we will go shopping." She told him and he run off.

"Akiyama." She turned to Kakashi, who was standing with his hand hidden in his pockets. "As I said, find me out in case you need anything. If I won't be available, seek Gai." He almost smirked seeing her blanch.

She had a few encounters with the Green Beast, usually during the group night out that usually included a few jounins invading a club.

"I know he is a good guy, but… he is quite intensive guy." She said.

Kakashi chuckled.

"That he is." He agreed.

Naruto came back, dragging the back with his belongings behind him. Natsu decided that the trip home first would be more needed.

"Gimme that." She picked the bag and slung it over her shoulder. "I would invite you to come with us, but something tells me you are not a fan of shopping."

"Definitely not. I have things to do, people to see, books to read." He said, already moving. "See you around."

"Oi, Hatake." She called, before he disappeared. Kakashi turned around. "You are always welcome to see Naruto if you want." She said.

He looked at her over his shoulder.

"I would do that anyway." He answered, before disappearing.

"Cocky bastard." She muttered.

"What is a bastard?" Naruto quickly picked up.

Natsu sighed.

The shopping was… an interesting adventure, so to say. Now she knew how hard it was for Naruto to function normally in Konoha until now.

Once the boy was recognized by the shop owners, he was refused to try of the items. When she made it clear that he was with her and that she would _strongly_ insist on buying some clothes for him, they were a little bit nicer. However they still tried to increase the prices of the items or lied that the boy's size was not available at the moment, even though the shelf was full of it. In the end, she threatened one of the owners, finally acquiring the shirts, trousers and shoes she and Naruto chose to buy.

They spent almost entire day walking from one shop to another. By the end of the trip Naruto was so tired that she had to carry him, together with the shopping bags. Somehow she didn't mind that, after all, when he was hugging her neck, murmuring something in his sleep about ramen.

Once they arrived to her apartment, she deposited Naruto onto her guest bedroom, deciding to start remodeling the room to suit Naruto more before she started taking missions again.

She emptied the bag, putting everything to the temporary shelf she had in the bedroom, and then moved to kitchen. Preparing a normal dinner would be something of the essentials now, since she couldn't feed Naruto with ramen all the time, even though she herself usually survived on take-outs and instants, to the dismay of her mother.

Taking out the vegetables she acquired during a trip to the shop, she started chopping them down, her thoughts uncertain and a little bit terrifying. She knew that her life would change a lot now, she was no longer looking out only for herself. She wasn't also looking after a normal child, either. At the beginning she was kind of hoping that if the child was seen with a proper guardian, the villagers would back of a little bit at least, refraining from showing their dislike openly. However, the day proved her wrong – even in the presence of jounin, some of them didn't stop themselves from cursing the child under their breaths, completely ignoring the prohibition set by the Third. Her landlord was looking at her quite strangely when she returned with Naruto from shopping and met him by the door. There was no comment from him, however. And she hoped it would stay that way. Thankfully, she often just ignored any comments about herself, simply not caring about what other thinks of her. But that a new level of that.

She didn't take into consideration giving up the child back to the orphanage. That was not an option. She inherited her mother's insistence and her teacher's stubbornness, so she was going to make it through whatever difficulties the fate may put in her way.

She was about to boil the water to prepare the vegetables, when there was a knock to her door. Not expecting anyone, she furrowed her brows. She was supposed to meet with Kurenai, but on the next day.

She rushed to the door and opened it.

"Why am I getting informed by some strangers about the fact that I have a new addition in the family?"

"M-mother?!"

* * *

A/N: Hi everyone,

Hope you are enjoying the story so far. If you have any suggestion/comments, please let me know.

Cheers,

Nat.


End file.
